Mascot
The Mascot is a Japanese subminiature taking 14×14mm pictures on 17.5mm paper backed rollfilm, made around 1950 by Shimura. Description The Mascot has a vertical shape, somewhat similar to a lighter. It is said that the overall design was inspired on the Coronet Midget. The column in January 1951, p.40. There is a tubular finder sunken at the top. The film is advanced by a knob on the photographer's right. The shutter is released by a button at the top, on the right of the viewfinder. It cannot be tripped unless the film has been advanced, thus providing double exposure prevention. The column in January 1951, p.40, mentions double exposure prevention (二重露出防止) and says that "the shutter is not set unless the film is wound": フィルムを捲かぬとシャッターがセットされない. The lens is a fixed-focus Mascot Anastigmat f/4.5. The focal length is reported as 20mm in various sources, including a press article dated January 1951, 20mm focal length: column in January 1951, p.40; , item 5062; , p.365. but the markings Mascot Anastigmat F:4.5 f=25mm can be discerned on the only picture observed so far. Example pictured in , item 5062. The same picture appears on pp.365 and 432 of , but the reproduction is less good and the markings are not legible. The speed is selected by a pivoting index on the front plate, above the lens, with 100, 50, 25, B positions. The aperture is selected by a similar index placed below the lens, with 8 and 4.5 positions. , p.365, mentions f/4.5, f/8 and f/11, certainly by mistake. Commercial life The Mascot was announced in Japanese magazines dated January 1950. , p.365. It was still featured in the January 1951 issue of , in an article on Japanese camera production, whose extract is reproduced below. Column in January 1951, p.40. The camera was certainly not made in large quantities, and the only surviving example known so far, belonging to the Pentax Gallery, is pictured in and in . Example pictured in , item 5062; , pp.365 and 432. Manufacturer The camera was developed by Otagi Michifusa, designer of the Minion, Minion 35 and Primoflex. Column in January 1951, p.40: the Mascot is described as "the most convenient camera made by Otagi Michifusa" (愛宕通英先生作る所の最も使い良いカメラ). It is said that the camera was produced on behalf of Tōkyō Kōgaku by Shimura, which was perhaps an offshoot or a subcontractor. , p.432: "Tōkyō Kōgaku had it made by the separate company Shimura Kōgaku" (東京光学は志村光学という別会社でやっていた). The sources disagree on the exact company name, which is either "Shimura Kōgaku", "Shimura Koki" or "Shimura Seiki Co." "Shimura Kōgaku": , p.365 (surely the most reliable). "Shimura Koki": , p.890. "Shimura Seiki Co.": , item 5062. Notes Bibliography Original documents * no.20, January 1951. "Kokusan kamera no kentō" (国産カメラの検討, Inquiry on Japanese cameras). Pp.36–40. Recent sources * Item 846 (see also the picture and discussion on pp.432–3). * P.890. * Item 5062. Links In English: * Mascot (text only) at Submin.com (the mention of a Shimura certainly corresponds to the Mascot too) * Brief mention of the Mascot among 17.5mm film cameras at Subclub.org Category: Japanese 17.5mm film Category: M